Ramaz Lower School





Picnic on the Roof

		Owen and Mzee Lower School Book Day
By RamazKids.com "The best day ever," according to a second grader, was the first Lower School Book Day. A full day's activities were planned around the themes of Owen and Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship about the link between a 130-year-old tortoise and a baby hippo. In a day of informal learning, math, science, geography, literacy, chumash, music, and art lessons were based on themes in the book. The excitement was palpable as sounds wafted through the corridors of the school throughout the day: the music of Kenyan thumb pianos made by and played by third grade students; the voices of students performing skits on the value of friendship, helpfulness, and welcoming new friends; the echo of older students reading to children in Pre-K; giggles from the science room as tortoises from the Greenburgh Nature Center crawled towards kindergartners, first or second graders. Combining independent study and Hebrew language, fourth grade students wrote and presented skits about friendships, based on source material from Tanakh. Art and writing were integrated as first and second graders created flip books on friendship. The day was planned to encourage the children to enjoy and explore literature through integrated activities. This is a stellar example of how Ramaz imparts the importance of Judaic Studies and General Studies complementing and mutually reinforcing the other. Ms. Barbara Goldstein shared photos and souvenirs from her trip to Africa last summer and Ms. Janice Huff, WNBC meteorologist, discussed tsunamis and weather with the students. Members of the Ramaz Upper School’s Percussion Ensemble capped the day with a retelling of the story through music played on a variety of drums. Click here for photos.